The UnCUT/VOICES Press Collection

In the Name of Tradition

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When Kameel Ahmady, an aid worker in Africa, first encountered FGM, little did he suspect the discovery awaiting him on return to his native Iran. His own “grandmother, mother and sister had all undergone FGM,” he learned and was inspired to find out more. This pioneering volume shares evidence gathered in 4000 interviews conducted over ten years in the provinces of Hormozgan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah and Kurdistan to outline the scope of the practice, and although the central government is loath to intervene, Ahmady moves from description to prescription. He suggests a course of action to prevent this grievous human rights abuse. As Hilary Burrage notes, “No more can it be said that genital ablation is a problem in Africa alone. Ahmady and his colleagues have uncovered data critical to stopping a harmful tradition in Iran. Enhanced with photographs, tables and charts, Ahmady’s study offers insight into the challenges faced by Iranian authorities if women and girls are to remain intact. Based on solid scholarship, this book contributes to ending FGM.”

On October 10th, 2016, In the Name of Tradition. Female Genital Mutilation in Iran (Frankfurt am Main: UnCUT/VOICES Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-3-9813863-7-0) was launched by the author at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, from 2-5 p.m. in the Deneke Room under the auspices of Dr Tobe Levin in cooperation with the International Gender Studies Centre. The custom, a longstanding ritual locally called sunnet, that violates numerous aspects of women’s sexual rights, prevails in four provinces: Western Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Hormozgan. By bringing the issue to the world’s agenda, Ahmady’s monograph provides in-depth data and, at the same time, offers ideas for a comprehensive programme to combat the custom, little known to most Iranians outside the areas of prevalence.

What Our Readers Say

No more can it be said that genital ablation is a problem in Africa alone. Ahmady and his colleagues have uncovered data critical to stopping a harmful tradition in Iran. Enhanced with photographs, tables and charts, Ahmady’s study offers insight into the challenges faced by Iranian authorities if women and girls are to remain intact. Based on solid scholarship, this book contributes to ending FGM.

UnCUT/VOICES Press is the first publisher with exclusive focus on female genital mutilation in memoirs, academic studies, and creative writing, often in translation, that advocate against this human rights abuse.